Football: Poland join list of All Whites' top-ranked opponents
Photo:
ANDRZEJ IWANCZUK
The All Whites have added world number 37 Poland to a playing schedule that already had two other top-40 ranked sides locked in, as they continue the long build-up to next year's FIFA World Cup.
New Zealand will take on Poland in Chorzów on 10 October at the second-largest stadium in the country, the 54,378-capacity Stadion Śląski.
The game could feature a showdown between New Zealand's all-time men's leading goalscorer,
Chris Wood
(44 international goals), and Poland's all-time top scorer Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, who currently has 85 goals for his country.
The match will take place five days before the team faces fellow European side
Norway
(FIFA rank 33) at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo.
The two October European games follow September's home-and-away
Soccer Ashes series
against Australia's Socceroos (FIFA rank 24).
All Whites head coach Darren Bazeley said getting games against top-50 ranked opposition was part of the plan ahead of the World Cup co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the USA.
"We want to make sure we are in the best place to perform come the tournament, so we're continuing to test ourselves against the kinds of top-ranked sides we could face next year.
"We've shown moments against higher-ranked sides so far in this cycle, but the win over African champions
Côte d'Ivoire
in June really gives us confidence that we can get results at this level, which is what we'll need to do to achieve our goal of getting out of the group at the FIFA World Cup.
"Poland are an experienced team with some major threats, so we're looking forward to taking them on and showing what we can do against a strong European side."
Before the international fixtures Bazeley will be keeping a close eye on his players around the world in different club competitions.
"We've still got players out of season, just starting the season and we've got players mid-season in the MLS and some of the European places so every one is in a different position.
"We've had probably about 20 players move club in the last month, two months, so that's a little bit unsettling for everybody but until the seasons start everywhere we don't know if they've been good moves or not so.
"So looking forward to seeing a lot of football over the next six to nine months before we get into that world cup."
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